The initiative seeks to guarantee universal access to clear water and sanitation and to prevent the privatisation of public water services, by exempting water services from the EU’s internal market rules.

The hearing, to take place on Monday (17 February), provides a platform for the organisers of the initiative to present their goals to MEPs and to Maroš Šefcovic, the European commissioner for inter-institutional relations and administration. The hearing will be co-sponsored by the committees on petitions, internal market and development.

The right to water was the first citizens’ initiative to be certified as having met the validity threshold – which is at least one million signatures from at least seven different member states, with different thresholds for different member states. Once an initiative has been certified, it advances to a hearing at the European Parliament. The Commission has three months from the submission of a certified citizens’ initiative to respond to it, either by proposing legislation or by explaining why it deems it unnecessary to act.

The possibility of a citizens’ initiative was introduced by the Lisbon treaty in 2009, and implementing rules have been in place since 2011. Seven more initiatives are in the process of being certified by national authorities.